The Sympathizer: A Novel

Written by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Narrated by Francois Chau

Now an HBO® Original Limited Series on Max, and winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, a startling debut novel featuring one of the most remarkable narrators of recent years: a conflicted subversive and idealist working as a double agent in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, as well as seven other awards, and now an HBO® Original Limited Series on Max, The Sympathizer has sold over one million copies worldwide and is one of the most acclaimed books of the 21st century. With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Vladimir Nabokov, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who comes to America after the fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping spy novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Mar 4, 2025
• ISBN: 9781668140680

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer is a New York Times best seller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His honors include the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction from the American Library Association, the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction, and many more. He is a professor at the University of Southern California

Reviews for The Sympathizer

[Huelmino · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The opening sentences serve to connect immediately with the plot of the novel. "I am a spy, an undercover agent, a mole, a man with two faces." This is how the protagonist narrator will recount it as a confession. His name is not known, but he is the son of a Vietnamese teenage mother (whom he loves beyond all measure) and a French Catholic priest father (whom he hates).

He was born in Vietnam, studied in the U.S., and returns to enlist in the South Vietnamese army, under the command of the general in charge of the military and political police, the one that does the dirty work. But he is a communist agent from North Vietnam. A Viet Cong. An undercover agent.

The first chapter is perhaps the one that contains some of the images with which one will remember this book. Because this is one of those books that one does not forget. It is an electrifying narrative of the evacuation on the last plane taking off from the airport when Saigon falls into the hands of the North Vietnamese army, and American forces retreat, carrying a humiliating defeat on their shoulders.

I believe it is a work that exudes intelligence and talent, with witty phrases and well-crafted characters, telling the historical conflict of Southeast Asia from a perspective different from the usual version delivered by literature and Hollywood cinema. But it is the narrating protagonist who takes the spotlight. It's impossible not to empathize with him – although justifying him would be different – perhaps because he never stops being a child who longs for his mother, the one who told him in the face of everyone's disdain for being mixed-race, "you are not half of anything, you are double of everything."

There are 23 chapters, averaging 20 pages each. The narrative is structured as a monologue in the format of a confession. And although it maintains tension, I must say that some passages drag a bit due to the lack of dialogue, the density, and the depth of the reflections.

As for the genre to which this novel belongs, I am not an expert to define it. But here you find historical fiction based on real events, politics, chapters with strong touches of a crime novel, certainly espionage, and also satire and social criticism of societies and government systems, from which no one is spared. And with well-placed touches of dark humor.

A lot can be said about this novel, and it makes you want to share many ideas about it. And that is also a good indicator, because there are works that make you want to say nothing. At least, two things should not be overlooked: what it contains in terms of reflection on the harshness of being an immigrant, of being a refugee on foreign soil. What could be more universal than that today?

And the second is to bring to light the subsequent fate of revolutions. What do those who fight against the powerful do when they gain power? What does the revolutionary do when the revolution succeeds? Why do those who invoke independence and freedom rob that independence and freedom from others?

It was a great discovery to have read this "Sympathizer" by Mr. Viet Thanh Nguyen. Did I say it right? And of course, the Pulitzer Prize he won is well deserved. (Translated from Spanish)

[Rockjas 666 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Man's smile revealed surprisingly yellowed teeth. "You'll be more useful there than here," that dentist's son told me. "And if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for Bon. He won’t go if he finds out you're not going. But in any case, you want to go. Admit it!"

Did I dare to admit it? Did I dare to confess? America, the land of supermarkets and superhighways, of supersonic planes and Superman, of aircraft carriers and the Super Bowl! America, a country that had not only been content to name itself at its bloody birth but had also insisted for the first time in History on using mysterious initials, USA, a trifecta of letters that would only later be surpassed by the quartet of the USSR. All nations believed themselves superior in their own way, but had there ever been a country capable of coining so many "super" terms drawn from the Federal Reserve of its narcissism, a country that was not only supremely confident but also superpowerful, and that would not be satisfied until it had all nations immobilized with a chokehold and forced them to shout "Uncle Sam"? (Translated from Spanish)

[Rexx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The saying "he who serves two masters ends up failing with one" —would it be different if instead of a couple of masters it involved two ideologically hostile nations? Probably not.

The written confessions of an undercover agent during the conflict between Vietnam and the United States reveal his experiences during the evacuation of Saigon, as the southern part of the Indochinese country succumbed before the revolutionary army. The arrival in enemy territory, specifically California. His contributions in Hollywood for the creation of a film that narrates the atrocities of the war (in the American style). And of course, the risks involved in the life of a double agent.

Navigating through the pages is slow and gradual, not so much due to the density of the lines, but because of the multiple “storms of reflection” when addressing topics such as immigration resulting from the war, the clash of ideas, and the strong desire for global representation grounded in their beliefs and, of course, the convenience of those who move the pieces on the board. And what I consider most valuable, the exorcised vision of Hollywood-style heroism, a distinctive hallmark of American versions when narrating their experience of the events. (Translated from Spanish)

[zurilector · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good and quite original, with a good mix of genres and a different perspective on the Vietnam War, Vietnamese refugees, and life in the United States, although in the final part it loses some momentum and the plot unnecessarily drags on. (Translated from Spanish)

[TrinityMarie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review of The Sympathizer

Well, where should I start with this book.

Good points:

? Agile narrative, it was one of the things I liked the most about the book; I felt like I was progressing a lot because of the author's writing style, it's like you don't even realize you've read 20 pages.

? The characters in the story, although not all were extremely important, each played a significant role; the protagonist is very well constructed, although I didn't agree with some of his ideas.

? You learn a lot about various political terms and what they mean, like (communism, capitalism), their advantages and disadvantages, and it talks a lot about war; I am quite drawn to books about historical events like the Vietnam War.

? It shows many realities that are hard to accept.

? You don't get bored.

Points I didn't like:

? The protagonist often made me uncomfortable with his ideas, which I respected but didn’t stop him from coming off as a bit pedantic at times.

? I never knew the protagonist's name.

? At one point, I became confused about whether he was a communist, capitalist from another side, or a spy; honestly, I got lost there, perhaps because I don’t know much about politics.

In short, a very good story to learn about the consequences of the Vietnam War in a more realistic way; it teaches a great truth about what it is to be an immigrant in a foreign country and how this can influence you.

I learned a lot from it, and it is a very good read of the year (though I don't know if it will be one of the best). But I will definitely give it a very good rating.
I recommend it for ages 16 and up. (Translated from Spanish)

[Lbascha2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What do those who fight the powerful do when they gain power? What does a revolutionary do when the revolution succeeds? Why do those who invoke independence and freedom steal that independence and freedom from others?

In this novel, with which its author Viet Thanh Nguyen won the Pulitzer in 2016, he lays bare the reality experienced by both sides of the Vietnam War, how refugees had to adapt to a new country that did not welcome them with open arms, and that despite having fought on the same side, they were victims of racism and discrimination. He also tells us that the victorious side, upon receiving thousands of displaced people during the war, subjected them to torturous processes of "reeducation."

I feel fear, especially for what my country Honduras is experiencing, a beautiful country marked by corruption, drug trafficking, and political polarization on the brink of an electoral process that announces problems.

However, the author leaves us with one final phrase: "We confess that we are sure of one thing and only one thing; we swear that we will fulfill, under penalty of death, this one promise: WE WILL LIVE!" (Translated from Spanish)

[Neneco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well. In my opinion, it loses momentum as it approaches the end. But overall it's good. Not something I'd recommend indiscriminately. But it's good reading, and that is never a small thing. (Translated from Spanish)